Writer

Fiction

Dream Country

Dream Country is the story of five generations of young people from one African American family chasing an elusive dream across centuries and continents. Shannon Gibney conjures an ambitious, sinuous novel from a family tree twisted to its breaking point by slavery and colonialism but ultimately held together by hope and determination.

On sale September 11, 2018 from Dutton Books. To learn more or pre-order, click here.

You can also read a recent article the Star Tribunepublished, revealing the cover.

Welcome Home

A collection of adoption-themed short stories from YA writers of all backgrounds and genres. Shannon’s story “Salvation,” about a re-homed Haitian adoptee, is featured.

Sky Blue Water

Shannon’s short story “Lonestar,” about a Liberian American teenager who keeps on getting into fights with Black kids at his Brooklyn Center high school, is featured in this new anthology of children’s literature from Minnesota writers.

See No Color

Check out Shannon’s debut novel, See No Color, published by Carolrhoda Books (2015), which won a 2016 Minnesota Book Award.

From the book description:

For as long as she can remember, sixteen-year-old Alex Kirtridge has known two things:
1. She has always been Little Kirtridge, a stellar baseball player, just like her father.
2. She’s adopted.

These facts have always been part of Alex’s life. Despite some teasing, being a biracial girl in a white family didn’t make much of a difference as long as she was a star on the diamond where her father―her baseball coach and a former pro player―counted on her. But now, things are changing: she meets Reggie, the first black guy who’s wanted to get to know her; she discovers the letters from her biological father that her adoptive parents have kept from her; and her body starts to grow into a woman’s, affecting her game.

Alex begins to question who she really is. She’s always dreamed of playing pro baseball just like her father, but can she really do it? Does she truly fit in with her white family? Who were her biological parents? What does it mean to be black? If she’s going to find answers, Alex has to come to terms with her adoption, her race, and the dreams she thought would always guide her.

You can download sample chapters, bookmarks, and discussion guides here: